422 flood insurance claims·$5.2M paid·3 federal flood & hurricane disasters
Share of the whole county outline, rivers and lakes included; parts FEMA hasn’t mapped count as zero.
Shaded areas are FEMA’s mapped flood hazard zones in and around Athens County, Ohio. Zoomed out they are simplified; at street level the map switches to FEMA’s exact layer. Tap anywhere to check that spot, or search an address above.
River flooding and flash flooding from frequent storms dominate the flood profile of Athens County, Ohio, backed by 72 recorded flood events and 53 flash flood events, including one flash flood death, over the last 30 years. Recent weather patterns illustrate this activity, such as the February 16, 2025 flood event driven by a warm front and substantial overnight rain, and the May 13, 2025 flash flood event caused by a stalled frontal boundary and slow-moving disturbances producing heavy afternoon and evening downpours.
National Flood Insurance Program records indicate that property owners in high-risk zones face the heaviest toll, led by Zone A properties which accounted for 262 claims with an average payout of $13,475 and an average recorded water depth of 17 inches. Meanwhile, properties designated as Zone X recorded 78 claims with a higher average payout of $25,586 and an average recorded water depth of 8 inches.
Homeowners and real estate agents should pay the closest attention to properties located within Zone A and Zone X, where historical claim frequencies and recorded water depths demonstrate significant financial and structural risk from recurring regional precipitation events.
Summary written from NOAA storm reports and NFIP claims for this county. Not a prediction.
3% of Athens County’s flood insurance claims were on properties rated outside FEMA’s high-risk zones.
269 NFIP claims with a recorded rated flood zone, 1978 to date. The zone is the one FEMA used to rate that policy, which may not match today’s map. Source: OpenFEMA NFIP claims.
In flood insurance claims here that reported a flood depth, the average was 15 inches.
Drawn to scale against an 80-inch door. Even a few inches soaks flooring, the bottom of the drywall and anything plugged in near the floor.
Average of the depths reported on claims (zero and implausible values left out); FEMA’s record doesn’t say exactly where each depth was measured. Source: OpenFEMA NFIP claims.
The worst year was 2004, with 110 claims and $1.6M paid, the year of Severe Storms, Flooding, Mudslides, and Landslides, Severe Storms and Flooding and Severe Winter Storms, Flooding, and Mudslides.
Bar height is scaled by square root so ordinary years stay visible next to the worst one. NFIP claims by year of loss. Source: OpenFEMA.
96 NOAA storm reports from Athens County describe what happened, in the words of the forecasters who covered it. Read the Ohio flood stories →
19 federal disaster declarations since 1968, 3 of them floods, coastal storms or hurricanes.
| Disaster | Began |
|---|---|
| Severe Storms, Flooding, And Landslides | Feb 5, 2019 |
| Severe Storms, Landslides, And Mudslides | Feb 14, 2018 |
| Severe Storms | Jun 29, 2012 |
| Severe Storms And Straight-line Winds | Jun 29, 2012 |
| Severe Storms And Flooding | Apr 4, 2011 |
| Hurricane Katrina Evacuation | Aug 29, 2005 |
| Severe Winter Storms, Flooding, And Mudslides | Dec 22, 2004 |
| Severe Storms And Flooding | Aug 27, 2004 |
Weather and water disasters only; most recent first. Source: OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations.
125 since 1996: 53 flash floods and 72 river or area floods.
| Event | Date | Damage |
|---|---|---|
| Flash Flood | Jul 17, 2025 | — |
| Flood | Feb 16, 2025 | — |
| Flash Flood | Jul 14, 2025 | — |
| Flash Flood | May 13, 2025 | — |
| Flash Flood | Jul 7, 2025 | — |
| Flood | Apr 5, 2025 | — |
| Flood | Apr 4, 2025 | — |
| Flood | May 3, 2025 | — |
— = no damage estimate in the record. Source: NOAA Storm Events Database.
Flash Flood · Jul 17, 2025. Several days of active weather took place from July 17th to the 20th across southeast Ohio as a cold front approached from the west and then stalled over the area. The boundary eventually slid north as a warm front on the 19th of July while a disturbance passed across the Great Lakes region and took aim for New England. A secondary cold front encroached from the north and then sank down through the middle Ohio Val…
Flood · Feb 16, 2025. Light precipitation started to arrive the evening of the 14th, then more substantial rain spread across the area overnight into the 15th as a warm front approached from the south. While precipitation coverage eroded from southeast Ohio and northwest West Virginia during the afternoon, moderate to heavy rain continued to trail across northeast Kentucky, southern West Virginia, and southwest Virginia. This precipit…
Flash Flood · Jul 14, 2025. Beginning on July 14th, a cold front eased towards the Ohio River and remained in the vicinity of southeast Ohio until decaying on the 16th. Daytime heating and passing disturbances aloft prompted daily afternoon and evening showers and thunderstorms amid a warm and very moist air mass while the front held residency overhead. ||Storms on the 14th were very efficient rainfall producers, depositing one to two inches…
Flash Flood · May 13, 2025. Active weather in the form of flash flooding and strong thunderstorms prevailed over southeast Ohio on May 13th as a result of a nearby frontal boundary. The original front stalled across the Ohio Valley on the 11th, then dissolved over the area while a disturbance slowly approached from the southwest for the next several days. This set the stage for heavy downpours and strong thunderstorms amid the hot and humid…
National Weather Service narratives, lightly trimmed. Source: NOAA Storm Events Database.
Every colour on the map above is a place on this drawing: where the ground sits relative to the flood FEMA plans for.
If a building in Athens County is in a high-risk zone (A or V) and its mortgage comes from a federally regulated or insured lender, or is federally backed, flood insurance is required.
Outside those zones it is optional, and often worth having: from 2014 to 2024 nearly one-third of NFIP claims came from outside the high-risk Special Flood Hazard Area. Since Risk Rating 2.0, NFIP premiums are set for each building, so the only reliable price is a quote: FloodSmart.gov or a local agent.